Chariot Race

Léonce Rosemberg was the owner of a fine and sophisticated art gallery, the Galerie de l’Effort Moderne, where Léger, Braque, Picasso, Mondrian, and Picabia, among others, exhibited. Italians who had dealings with the French dealer included Gino Severini, Alberto Savinio and Giorgio de Chirico; the latter, despite sometimes stormy relations with his despotic gallerist, agreed to make eleven canvases for the new apartment Rosemberg had rented on the rue de Longchamp.

The entire apartment was built in pure Deco style, a sort of temple of the taste of the time and a permanent display of the artists who worked for the eccentric merchant. De Chirico was entrusted with the decoration of the main dining room, for which the theme of gladiators was chosen, a subject particularly dear to the artist from that very year.

The decorative ensemble of the reception hall, considered by George Waldemar as a new anti-materialistic figurative proposal, rich in spiritual meanings, comparable to Constantinian art, was dismantled and auctioned off in 1932, along with all the assets of Léonce Rosemberg, who was declared bankrupt following the Wall Street crash.

Di quel grandioso complesso, ora disperso fra musei e collezioni private, sono visibili a Milano Le combat del 1928, facente parte del patrimonio di Casa Museo Boschi di Stefano (Comune di Milano) e questa Corsa di quadrighe, o Course de chars, usato per decorare gli spazi rimasti vuoti al di sopra delle due ampie porte d’accesso alla sala da pranzo.